Rewiring leadership awareness. Why community service is your path to greatness

"Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You don't have to know the Second Theory of Thermodynamics and Physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace."?- Dr. Martin Luther King

What we need is a new paradigm for our connected world. Although community service is not a new path, by examining your potential for growth by helping others, we understand the implications of positive change. Best of all, anyone can serve. You just need an open heart. Imagine, when we walk together, our acts gain resilience, strength, and force.

Recognise that there’s a big difference between restructuring how you work and act when compared with personal transformation. Community service is a prime catalyst for personal transformation. Why? Because transformation is more ambitious. It’s taking yourself from point A to point B, where getting to point B opens more potential to make an impact. You can only transform yourself if you can mobilise your best you with purpose, focus, and alignment.

This is what we call awareness. Second, you need a very granular strategy. It becomes a tool for alignment and engagement. My third point is to have a performance culture where performance improvement becomes part of your strategy implementation. Then, you can move with intensity, pace, and rigour.

However, given the social and political trends of the past several years, cooperation among people has begun to wane, and the world finds itself at a potential inflection point. This is when we must re-double our efforts. More than ever, selfless acts of service define a values-based social foundation for sustained leadership to cultivate relationships. The more inclusive we become, the more lasting change we can bring about. You would be amazed at how small acts of kindness can change someone's life.

This brings me to mentorship. By acting as a mentor, what you gain is a deeper understanding of how values-based leadership advances. Your ability to enact change is more effective because you will have gone through an intense period of self-inquiry. Afterward, you will be inspired to take further action, propelled by new ideas and skills to become an active change-maker.

Let's now tackle this discussion on a ground level as the Buddha was fond of reminding his disciples. Before we help others, we must first help ourselves. We are no good to anyone if we are twisted and confused. We need a clear head. The techniques we recommend show you how to first transform yourself, then your company or organisation by tackling the issues that matter, internally, and then in partnership within your community and industry.

First off is to stop living in the past. Living in the past steals too much energy and represents a massive miscalculation although it does explain why people who procrastinate are so unproductive. Putting aside reasons, that compel us to procrastinate, admit that there is a link between overall poor performance and mental health.

How to reboot your mental health calculus

The most efficient paradigm for holistic performance is rooted in mindfulness. It is easy to do and requires nothing from you except regular practice. Because it is also a path of forgiveness, it pushes you to serve your community in ways that matter. It also teaches you to accept things as they are before you plan for change. Focus on your intentions and the quality of your practice will blossom. By cultivating this attitude, your awareness will expand and impact every activity you engage with. It will also boost your mental faculties, helping you make sustainable as well as critical decisions.

The power of critical decision making

The next major step to exercising the power of critical decision-making is to push aside the data analytics and rely on your gut instincts. So how do you make the best choices? By exercising your emotional intelligence. It is for this reason, I draw your attention to 7 commonplace demons. A major step to making a breakthrough is to put these tendencies to which we all can succumb behind you.

The timing is perfect. What we’re advocating is?delivering net positive?change for yourself as well as others. The pandemic has accentuated our awareness that mental well-being is essential to cooperation and change. However, many folks are still struggling with the?how. Here are our secrets to overcoming the 7 most commonplace demons:

Demon No. 1 - Hate getting out of bed. Have you thrown your alarm clock out the window only to recognise afterward that the window was closed? Do you suffer from a toxic work environment where management treats staff as disposable commodities? If the answer to these salient points is yes, then it is time to acknowledge that you are a prime candidate for a transformation.

Demon No. 2 - Communication breakdown. When relationships at work start to unravel, productivity and performance suffer. Find the root cause. If you are the one in the leadership role, it is up to you to set a positive tone. Others take their behavioural cues from you. Never give up on yourself. Relinquish instead the negative people who impede growth.

Demon No. 3 - Fear of making a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes. Learn from setbacks. Do not use them to punish others. Coaching is precisely designed to give you the support you require to let go of your mental baggage. Stop trying to be your own worst enemy. We've all done this. The point I'm making is to stop or you won't resolve the issues which haunt you.

Demon No. 4 - Lack of corporate values. Every enterprise or organisation has values, the question is are these values yours? Does the firm care about social justice, alleviating poverty, diversity, the environment, and empowerment?

A great company is only as good as the people it hires. Brilliant organisations recognise this. Richard Branson has said, "Train people in-house in order to promote them and make them evolve. Make them evolve to the point where they could easily leave and find employment elsewhere, but they are so content where they are they won't want to". This is the type of management culture every firm should have.

Demon No. 5 - Need for attitudinal change. Attitudinal change incorporates positive psychology. Start by blessing your Self. The whole world may not smile with you, but you won't care. You recognise that ultimately happiness and job satisfaction lay deep within your own heart.

Demon No. 6 - Avoid the complainer's corner. Now, I love blues music as much as the next fellow. It lifts me up when I am down and lets me shake a fast foot on the dance floor. Let Howlin' Wolf do the howling for you. Nobody likes complainers. Even your partner will run away from you if you persist in moaning twenty-four-seven.

To avoid constantly being negative, hang out in the sunshine and drink a great espresso. Negativity is a disease and it pulsates in the ether around you like a dense fog. It will also dampen your natural beauty no matter which Savile Row suit you wear.

Demon No. 7- Lacking tenderness. If Otis Redding could pull this off, so can you. Keep a diary of your progress and feelings. Diligence is the name of the game in any transformation. Laughter is the best medicine. Try it and you'll be hooked for life. Being in the company of men and women who laugh regularly will not only lighten your load it will enhance your ability to focus.

Bringing it back home. When we feel dissatisfied we all have a tendency to pile it on. Sometimes during the recalibrating process, we take three steps forward, hit a bump, and take two steps backward. This is the customary procedure. Inculcate a good habit for 21 days, and you will be done with the demons that haunt you. One dear friend refers to this process as self-realisation. Remember, the choice is ultimately yours. Only you can serve your community. So what's it going to be?

About The Author

Andrew Scharf is an Award-Winning MBA Admissions Consultant ?? Executive & Career Coach recognised for helping top performers, and aspiring professionals be all they can be. His?mission is to inspire, empower, and connect people to change their world at Whitefield Consulting . Have a professional project you would like to discuss, send him a DM.